← Back to studio

🏛️ Board reporting

HR Metrics Every Board Report Needs

A board is not asking HR for a scorecard. It is asking three questions: what is this costing us, what could go wrong, and which way is it moving? These fourteen HR metrics answer all three — with the formula for each and the question it settles.

📋 The fourteen metrics

  • Voluntary turnover rate

    (Resignations ÷ Average headcount) × 100

    Answers: Are people choosing to leave us, and is it getting worse?

  • First-year attrition

    (Leavers with under 12 months' service ÷ Hires in the period) × 100

    Answers: Are we hiring or onboarding the wrong way?

  • Regretted loss rate

    (High-performer resignations ÷ Total resignations) × 100

    Answers: Are we losing the people we could least afford to lose?

  • Cost per hire

    (Internal + external recruiting cost) ÷ Number of hires

    Answers: What does growth actually cost us per head?

  • Time to fill

    Total days from requisition approved to offer accepted ÷ Hires

    Answers: How long does the business wait for capacity?

  • Vacancy rate in critical roles

    (Open critical roles ÷ Total critical roles) × 100

    Answers: Where is delivery risk sitting right now?

  • Labour cost as % of revenue

    (Total labour cost ÷ Revenue) × 100

    Answers: Is our people cost moving in line with the business?

  • Revenue per employee

    Revenue ÷ Average headcount

    Answers: Is headcount growth producing output growth?

  • Overtime rate

    (Overtime hours ÷ Total hours worked) × 100

    Answers: Are we covering a staffing gap with fatigue?

  • Absence rate

    (Days absent ÷ Available working days) × 100

    Answers: How much capacity are we losing, and is it concentrated anywhere?

  • TRIR (total recordable incident rate)

    (Recordable incidents × 200,000) ÷ Hours worked

    Answers: Is our workplace getting safer or more dangerous?

  • LTIFR (lost time injury frequency rate)

    (Lost-time injuries × 1,000,000) ÷ Hours worked

    Answers: How severe are the incidents we do have?

  • Training spend per employee

    Total learning spend ÷ Average headcount

    Answers: Are we building the skills the strategy assumes we have?

  • Succession cover for critical roles

    (Critical roles with a ready successor ÷ Critical roles) × 100

    Answers: What happens if a key leader resigns tomorrow?

🗺️ How to lay out the page

  1. 1. Exceptions first. Open with the two or three metrics that moved outside their band. Everything stable can sit in a small table below.
  2. 2. Direction, not decimals. Show this period against last period and against the benchmark. 18.4% versus 18.39% is noise; "up from 14% two quarters ago" is a decision.
  3. 3. One message per chart. If a chart needs a paragraph to explain, it is the wrong chart.
  4. 4. Money the cause, money the fix. Convert at least turnover and absence into cost. Boards act on figures with a currency sign in front of them.
  5. 5. Close with the ask. Two or three decisions you need from them, each tied to a metric on the page.

❓ Common questions

How many HR metrics should a board report contain?
Ten to twenty. Anything beyond that competes for attention with the exceptions that actually need a decision — put the rest in an appendix.
Should safety metrics sit in the HR pack?
Yes, if nobody else is carrying them. Under ISO 45001 the board holds accountability for occupational health and safety performance, so TRIR, LTIFR and audit closure belong in front of them at least quarterly.
How often should HR report metrics to the board?
Quarterly for the board pack, monthly for the executive team, with an annual review showing twelve-month trend lines and benchmark movement.

Next: ISO 45001 Safety Metrics Explained · The HR Analytics Framework